PEO Pulse - Feb. 7, 2020

The "PEO Pulse" is a weekly digest of relevant news, recent PEO EIS events and updates to keep our workforce informed. First off, take a look at Ms. Smith's PEO Perspective for February.
 

THIS WEEK'S HEADLINES

• Army, Navy facing critical moments as deployments of modern contract writing systems near
• WESS delivers advanced satellite terminals
• PEO EIS supports Army IT Day
• Vice Chief of Staff: Speed of modernization no longer at 'glacial pace'
• Army gets tactical with latest cloud pilot
• Army's Project Sentinel aims to fix cyber authorization bottlenecks
• Enterprise platform to bridge the technology gap for the Air Force
• Navy sets new course for information technology
• Why Congress holds the key to DOD tech
• New docs outline scope, security requirements for CIA enterprise cloud
• Phased retirement participation picks up steam, but still hasn't come close to initial expectations
• How TSP uses social science to encourage participants to save more
• Retirement claims for feds spike in January
• LEIDOS wins recompetition of Navy's multibillion dollar NGEN contract
• Defense innovation experts to Congress: Put money where Pentagon's mouth is
• L3Harris looks to shed as much as 10 percent of company

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Feb. 13: DCO Cyber Talk
• Feb. 27: PEO EIS Town Hall
• Mar. 24-26: Signal Conference, Springfield VA
• Mar. 26: Lunch & Learn

EIS IN THE NEWS

ARMY, NAVY FACING CRITICAL MOMENTS AS DEPLOYMENTS OF MODERN CONTRACT WRITING SYSTEMS NEAR
Raise your hand if you’ve heard this story before: An agency neglects legacy technology systems for decades, receives multiple congressional mandates to change, picks a vendor who struggles and millions of dollars later, the agency received little to no value. This tale of IT modernization is playing out once again with Army and the Navy’s attempt to consolidate and modernize their individual contract writing systems.

WESS DELIVERS ADVANCED SATELLITE TERMINALS
Wideband Enterprise Satellite Systems (WESS) delivered three Modernization of Enterprise Terminals (MET), the most advanced satellite terminals within the government sector, at Fort Meade, Bahrain, and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, between the third quarter of fiscal year 2019 and the first quarter of fiscal year 2020. These terminals provide long haul, strategic satellite communications capabilities to users that range from the White House to the warfighter on the battlefield.

PEO EIS SUPPORTS ARMY IT DAY
PEO EIS participated in AFCEA NOVA’s Army IT Day Jan. 21, 2020 at the McLean Hilton in McLean, Va. The event attracted more than 700 attendees representing over 300 companies.


ARMY

VICE CHIEF OF STAFF: SPEED OF MODERNIZATION NO LONGER AT 'GLACIAL PACE'
In his first six months on the job, the Army's vice chief of staff said the speed of an improved acquisition process has impressed him the most when it comes to tackling modernization. Gen. Joseph M. Martin, who once led the Army Operational Test Command, recalled the "glacial pace" it previously took to get new equipment out to the force. And by the time it got into Soldiers' hands, some of it was already obsolete.

ARMY GETS TACTICAL WITH LATEST CLOUD PILOT
The Army is already seeing results from its experimental tactical cloud when it comes to virtual training -- and may even save money down the line. "We've been talking about this type of capability of virtualizing training for years, and the big headache has always been that to train these soldiers we'd have to put a trainer on an airplane, spend a day traveling, and put them up at the training site," said Ken Lorentzen, chief engineer, Project Manager Mission Command (PM MC) for the Army's Program Executive Office for Command, Control, and Communications Tactical (PEO C3T).

ARMY'S PROJECT SENTINEL AIMS TO FIX CYBER AUTHORIZATION BOTTLENECKS
It’s been five years since the Defense Department adopted the Risk Management Framework as its new method for accrediting the cybersecurity of IT and weapons systems. And to put it gently, things got off to a bit of a rocky start. In the Army’s case, because of the way the service first implemented RMF, it resulted in a 800% increase in workload. But officials said they’ve already made dramatic improvements in the process even as they’re now setting out on a multi-year, three-phase RMF reform effort called Project Sentinel.


FEDERAL

ENTERPRISE PLATFORM TO BRIDGE THE TECHNOLOGY GAP FOR THE AIR FORCE
Modernizing information technology across 700,000 U.S. Air Force personnel is not a simple venture. Updating legacy systems, moving applications and data to the cloud, enabling the use of mobile devices, securing appropriate licensing and supplying powerful computing are complex undertakings. The pursuit of a digital transformation is a vital effort of the service, said Maj. Gen. Kevin Kennedy, USAF, assistant deputy chief information officer, Digital Transformation, and assistant deputy chief of staff for Cyber Effects Operations.

NAVY SETS NEW COURSE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Long-discussed cybersecurity issues such as cultural attitudes, innovation and supply chain vulnerability are now at the top of the U.S. Navy’s information technology action list as it faces a multifaceted threat to information dominance. Current conditions present a sense of urgency in efforts to upgrade Navy and Marine Corps information assets, but the services also face a window of opportunity that they can exploit.

WHY CONGRESS HOLDS THE KEY TO DOD TECH
Congress may have to relax its oversight -- or at least learn to take leaps of faith -- when funding defense technology research if it wants to see dramatic improvements in capabilities. That was the takeaway from the House Armed Services Committee's hearing for its Future of Defense Task Force Feb. 5. The task force, co-chaired by Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), was chartered in October for six months to evaluate the Defense Department's technological needs and capabilities through a series of briefings and hearings.

NEW DOCS OUTLINE SCOPE, SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR CIA ENTERPRISE CLOUD
The CIA has released an updated draft RFP for its massive, multi-billion dollar enterprise cloud, providing new details around the scope of services, cybersecurity protections and contract requirements. According to the draft request for proposals, the resulting indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity Commercial Cloud Enterprise contract will include multiple awarded vendors proposing a range of cloud services, including infrastructure-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service and software-as-a-service offerings.


WORKFORCE

PHASED RETIREMENT PARTICIPATION PICKS UP STEAM, BUT STILL HASN'T COME CLOSE TO INITIAL EXPECTATIONS
Participation in government’s once-highly-anticipated phased retirement program has picked up some steam over the last year, as more than 600 federal employees have now applied. To date, a total of 632 federal employees have opted into phased retirement, according to the Office of Personnel Management data provided to Federal News Network. Of that number, a total of 454 employees have applied, completed their agency’s requirements and have fully retired.

HOW TSP USES SOCIAL SCIENCE TO ENCOURAGE PARTICIPANTS TO SAVE MORE
Participants in the Thrift Savings Plan should expect a few more emails or even a phone call or two from the plan this year. But the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) says those emails aren’t supposed to be a nuisance or a bore. They’re supposed to help TSP participants save more for retirement. The additional emails and phone calls are the result of a social science program the FRTIB launched last fiscal year.

RETIREMENT CLAIMS FOR FEDS SPIKE IN JANUARY
The Office of Personnel Management received a sharp increase in retirement claims during January 2020, according to recent statistics. OPM received 17,134 claims for retirement and processed just over 10,000 cases. It was a marked difference from December 2019, during which OPM received 5,205 cases and processed 6,687. The average monthly processing rate for January 2020 was 58 days, versus an average of 61 days for the fiscal year to date.


INDUSTRY

LEIDOS WINS RECOMPETITION OF NAVY'S MULTIBILLION DOLLAR NGEN CONTRACT
The Navy said Wednesday it had awarded one of the largest IT contracts in government history to Reston, Virginia-based contractor Leidos, one of three large firms who bid on the largest portion of the latest Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) contract. The award is worth up to $7.7 billion over the next eight years, more than double the value of the previous iteration of the NGEN contract. The former HP Enterprise Services — now Perspecta — won that $3.5 billion award in 2013, but has since been granted several extensions while the Navy worked out the details of its latest competition.

DEFENSE INNOVATION EXPERTS TO CONGRESS: PUT MONEY WHERE PENTAGON'S MOUTH IS
Defense innovation experts told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday that if they truly want the Department of Defense to embrace the leap-ahead technologies needed to compete, Congress must use its funding power to make major players out of small, disruptive tech firms. The leaders of the U.S. House’s Future of Defense Task Force, which hosted the testimony, said they are willing to challenge the tough politics of displacing older systems that have built-in constituencies with the technologies troops will need.

L3HARRIS LOOKS TO SHED AS MUCH AS 10 PERCENT OF COMPANY
L3Harris Technologies could divest up to 10 percent of the company, according to CEO Bill Brown, as its recent decision to sell its airport security business for $1 billion is seen as the first of more transactions expected to refine the firm’s portfolio. L3Harris signed a definitive agreement to sell the business unit to Leidos, according to an announcement Tuesday. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2020, barring any issues tied to regulatory approvals. Proceeds from the divestiture are expected to be used to repurchase shares and offset dilution.


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